Come Home
by Sadie922
Summary: Continuing straight on from Eclipse. Jacob has just fled from Forks and Bella has learnt of his disappearance. Against her better judgement, she has taken off into the forest, determined to bring home her once shining sun.
1. Chapter 1

"Jacob!!"

I scampered through the forest as fast as my erratic legs would carry me. I wasn't going to loose him, I couldn't go through that pain again. What was he thinking, taking off like that? Did he want me to suffer that badly?

Sam had said he had headed south…I was sure I was travelling in that direction…oh, who was I kidding; I'm no tracker. I don't have a clue when it comes to hunting someone down! But still, I have to try.

"Jake!"

He couldn't keep ignoring me. It was just plain rude! I mean, here I am, practically throwing myself to my deathbed and he's skirting around the forest, having a field day. He must get his kicks from making me freak out like this; he does it more often than spending time with me, that's for sure.

I wiped angrily at the tears spilling down my face. _Snap out of it,_ I thought to myself, _you're never going to find him if you fall over and break your ankle_. I kept my eyes down and trudged through the thick mud, though it didn't prevent me from tripping over nothing more then my own two feet and covering myself in sludge.

It was hopeless. I was never going to find him. He was probably half way across the country by now. But I just couldn't understand it. Where was his motive? Everything was fine…he didn't know about the wedding and there was nothing else to my knowledge that could have gained such a reaction from him…unless…

I came to an abrupt halt.

"Damn it, Edward!" I screamed, jumping to the one and only conclusion I could think of.

He must have told Jake about the wedding. There was no other explanation. Alice wouldn't have told him – I made her swear blind after promising her she could plan the ceremony. She wouldn't risk such an opportunity, no matter how much she knew Jacob meant to me. Why was it so impossible for Edward to follow the rules? That's all I asked of him and it's not that much, considering I was about to commit myself to him for the rest of eternity.

Oh, Jacob. I couldn't begin to imagine how much he was hurting, I didn't want to. Knowing that I'd caused him so much pain was unbearable to me. If I allowed that grief to set in even for a few seconds, I knew I would never be able to pick myself up off the floor again to find him.

Why did I have to love both of them? Why not just one? No – wait – I didn't mean that. I couldn't live without Edward, I loved him too much. Then again, I loved Jake too. He was my sun. Ugh, this was just too hard!

I threw myself to the uneven ground, smacking my elbow on a rock.

"Argh!"

Growling unimpressively, I snatched up the rock in my shaking hand and flung it with all the force I could muster.

After a solid _clunk_, a resounding "Ow!" emitted from the bushes from which it had landed.

My head snapped up.

Was it him? Was it my Jacob?


	2. Chapter 2

"Crap, Bella, you could've picked a smaller rock,"

To my delight, there he was…spying on me in the bushes…

"Jacob!!"

"Yeah, yeah, you've screamed my name enough to last me a lifetime. I could hear you miles away. Do you have any idea how loud you are?"

Though his tone was playful, I could tell that underneath he was hurting. I sighed hopelessly when I noticed his face. It was hard and sombre and it killed me to know that I was the reason that he was so upset. Well, myself and a certain vampire.

As he jumped from the bushes, the sheer effortlessness of his actions was breathtaking. My heart began to hammer against my ribcage just from being around him again and I smiled tentatively as he sauntered up to me, but when it was not returned, it was knocked from my expression.

"What are you doing here, Bella?"

His arms were folded stiffly across his bulging chest and he stubbornly refused to meet me in the eye. Forgetting my part in his heart-ache, I rolled my eyes reflexively, mimicking his body language and tightening my eyes.

"Oh, only risking my life to search for one of the most important people in my life. You know the usual."

In hearing this, he scoffed, unimpressed at my sarcasm and shifted his weight awkwardly to his other tree-trunk of a leg. Jacob's shrewd defence did not hold out, however, his face falling as he recollected the last few weeks.

"I'm not _the_ most important person though, am I?" he scorned, kicking a stone aggressively. "Best get back to your precious _Edward_; don't think he'd be too happy to find out that you've been sneaking around with a werewolf."

"Oh, heaven forbid me actually _wanting_ to see my best friend!"

"So, I'm your 'best friend' again now, am I?"

"Of course!" I spat, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You always have been."

"Funny, I didn't hear you mentioning that when you were kissing me."

Damn it. He had me there.

"Listen, Jake, let's just go home and we can talk this out. There has to be a way we can compromise."

Daringly, I took his arm, tugging him homebound.

"No, Bells. Sometimes there isn't a compromise. Sometimes you just have to let things be."

Panicking as Jacob shrugged out of my hold, I threw myself onto him, clinging to his back with every fibre of my being.

"Please, Jake, don't leave me!"

And as I pleaded, I couldn't hold back the tears any longer and they poured relentlessly down my drained face. Tenaciously, he turned his face from mine, letting his hands dangling at his sides in protest. This only spurred my tears on further, as I buried my face in his neck.

"Please, Jacob, just come home. Please?"

I held my breath in anticipation, as his head swung round to look at me.

"Please."


End file.
